Shouting from the Hop

New Jersey poet and musician Patti Smith even took a tumble during the set, rekindling memories of her late '70's fall when she broke bones in her back, narrowly missing the edge of the stage at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Patti, who is now 60, was in town performing one of her Rock N Rimbaud gigs, dedicated to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, when, during a fiery encore of 'Rock N Roll Nigger', she tripped on a speaker and fell flat on her face, cutting her elbow. Despite not getting up for a few agonising seconds, the singer finally rose to loud cheers, humorously following the fall with a speech about "not losing your balance" in life. She then gave the speaker a kick in retaliation. "I'm not even f'ing embarrassed because I've done far worse," Smith laughed. "May (guitars) be the only weapons we use, may tripping up be the only humiliations we suffer, and may these (pointing to her scuffed elbow) be the only battle scars."

Earlier, Smith's set had included favourites like 'Horses', 'Gloria', 'We Three' - which she dedicated to Television leader Tom Verlaine (who she admitted to lusting after at CBGBs in 1974) - 'Dancing Barefoot', and 'Because The Night'. She also sang blistering covers of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', Jimi Hendrix's classic 'Are You Experienced' and The Rolling Stones' anthem 'Gimme Shelter'.

Patti was joined on stage by guitarist Lenny Kaye, who she performed with at her first ever Rock N Rimbaud gig in New York in 1971. Lenny was in fine form and the pair have an excellent musical working relationship that was very apparent all gig long. Patti thanked the crowd for "missing the rugby game", and also said that "the older you get, the better things become". Too true in her case!

The gig was certainly fantastic, and one of the best we have been to in years and years. The sound was fabulous (and not too loud..), the crowd OK, the atmosphere terrific, and the playing excellent.

Patti is one of my all time heroes, having first seen her in the mid-seventies. Then she bobbed all over the stage a bundle of electricity, but now, she is much more mature, but with a still fantastic voice.